Sliding door.



N0. 658,5I5. Patented Sept. 25, I900. P. L. SHERIDAN.

SLIDING DOOR.

[Application filed Mar. 17, 1900.)

(No Model.)

PHILIP L. SHERIDAN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SLIDING DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 658,515, datedSeptember 25, 1900.

Application filed March 1'7 1900. $eria1No. 9,027. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP L. SHERIDAN, of Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Sliding Doors, of which the following is a description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of thisspecification.

My invention has relation to improvements in sliding doors. It hasespecial reference to that class of sliding doors for freight-carswherein provision is made for the lowering of the door to therebysupport the same by the hangers, with the rollers out of contact withthe rail, and to automatically clamp said door to the side ofthe car andfor raising the door and thereby unclamping the same and bringing therollers into contact with the rail in order to permit the door to travelfreely along said rail.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved device foraccomplishing the above functions which is simple in construction, easyof manipulation, and possesses a powerful leverage.

WVith the above primary object in view the invention consists of thedevice and parts or their equivalents, as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a fragmentof a freightcar, showing my improvements applied thereto and showing thegrooved wheels as raised above the rail and the door clamped against thecoincident surface of the car. Fig. 2 is an edge view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a detail view of one of the hangers and allied parts. Fig. 4 is anedge view of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a plan view of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 6 indicates a fragment of a sideof a freightcar provided with an opening 7, which is controlled by meansof the sliding door 8. The door when lowered is supported at its loweredge by brackets 9 9, and these brackets are provided with inclined orcammed surfaces 10, which act against the door when lowered and causesaid door to be wedged at its lower end against the side of the car.Above the door-opening the side of the car has secured thereto anoutstanding rail 11. The door has secured to its outer face, near theupper portion thereof and at or near opposite ends, up-

wardly-extendinghanger-straps 12 12. These straps are bent overrearwardly, as clearly shown, in order to form housings for the groovedwheels 13 13, the said wheels being disposed between the sides of thehousings. The rear side of each hanger is also provided with a dependingbeveled lug 14:, the beveled front face of each lug being adjacent toand adapted to bear against the rear side of the rail. The opposed sidesof the housings are formed with vertically-elongated slots 15, and inthese slots the ends of the axles 16 of the grooved rollers extend.

Straddling. the 'sides of the housings of the hangers are the sides ofthe looped portions of levers 17 17, said levers being pivoted at theirouter ends to lugs projecting from the hangers, as indicated by thenumerals 18 18. The inner ends of the levers are connected by means ofan intermediate link 19, the ends of the link being preferably providedwith oblong or elongated openings through which the pivot-pins pass andenter openings in the ends of the levers. Pivotally connected to anintermediate portion of the link 19 is a vertical link 20, and the lowerend of this link in turn is pivotally connected to an intermediate pointof a hand-operated lever 21, which is pivoted at the point 22. The lever21 passes through a guide-loop 23.

In the operation of my invention when there is no downward pressure onthe handlever 21 the door, of course, by reason of its weight willautomatically fall to its lower potion and the hanger-straps will becarried downwardly therewith. This Will permit the links 17 to rise, andthe grooved rollers willv be thereby raised out of contact with therail, the axles of said rollers riding upwardly in the elongated slots.The links 17 in turn will raise the connecting-link 19, and said link 19will pull upwardly on the vertical link 20, which latter link will causethe hand-operated lever to be turned to the position shown in thedrawings. Then the door lowers, as described, its lower edge is broughtagainst the cam-surfaces 10, and at the same time the beveled lugs 14,carried atthe inner sides-of the hanger-strap, act against the rail 11,and

hence the door is firmly wedged against the opposed side of the car. Itwill therefore be seen that when the door is at rest it is suspended bythe hanger-straps, and it is also wedged against the side of the car,and the wheels are raised out of contact with the rail. From thisconstruction it will be obvoius that the door is held fast at anyposition at which it may be left, the door being held with sufficientfirmness to prevent it from sliding back and forth by reason of anyjarring or sudden starting or stopping of the car.

Whenever it is desired to move the door, all that is necessary to bedone is to press downwardly on the free end of the lever 21. This willcause a down pull on the link 20, and consequently through the link 19and levers 17 17 the grooved wheels will be brought into contact withthe rail 11, and at the same time the door will be raised, so as torelease it from its wedging contact with the side of the car.

By employing the hangers with the elongated slots in which the axles ofthe grooved rollers work and employing in connection therewith thelevers l7, pivoted to the hangers, I provide a very simple constructionfor raising and lowering the grooved wheels out of contact with therail. Also by the employment ot' the levers 17, arranged, as described,in connection with the links 19 and 20 and the operating-lever 21, amost powerful and effective leverage is secured.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In a sliding door, the combinationof a door, a rail, hangers secured to the door and provided withupwardlyextending bent-over portions, the sides of said bent-overportions provided with vertically-elongated slots, levers pivoted to thehangers and straddling the same, rollers disposed between the sides ofthe bent-over portions of the hangers, and arranged to engage the rail,the axles of said rollers passing through the elongated slots in thesides of the bent-over portions of the hangers, and the ends of saidaxles journaled in the sides of the looped portions of the levers, andmeans engaging the ends of the levers and adapted to turn said levers ontheir pivots. i

2. In a sliding door, the combination of a door, a rail, hangers securedto the door and provided with u pwardly-extendin g bent-over portions,the sides of said bent-over portions provided with vertically-elongatedslots, levers pivoted to the hangers and straddling the same, rollersdisposed between the sides of the bent-over portions of the hangers andarranged to engage the rail, the axles of said rollers passing throughthe elongated slots in and lowering the door to and from its slidingposition 3. In a sliding door, the combination of a door, a rail,hangers secured to the door and having upwardly-extending bent-overportions, the sides of the bent-over portions provided withvertically-elongated slots, levers pivoted to the hangers and straddlingthe same, rollers disposed between the sides of the bent-over portionsof the hangers and arranged to engage the rail, the axles of saidrollers passing through the elongated slots in the sides of thebent-over portions of the hangers, and the ends of said axles jonrnaledin the sides of the looped portions of the levers, a horizontal linkpivotally connecting the inner ends of the levers, a vertical linkpivotally connected to a medial point of the horizontal link, and anoperating-lever pivotally connected to the vertical link.

4.. In a sliding door, the combination of a door, a rail, hangerssecured to the door and having upwardly-extending bent over portions,the sides of the bent-'over portions provided with vertically-elongatedslots, levers pivoted to the hangers and straddling the same, rollersdisposed between the sides of the bent-over portions of the hangers andarranged to engage the rail, the axles of said rollers passing throughthe elongated slots in the sides of the bent-over portions of thehangers, and the ends of said axles journaled in the sides of the loopedportions of the levers, means engaging the ends of the levers andadapted to turn said levers on their pivots, and clamping deviceswhereby when the ,door is lowered and at rest, said door is automateally clamped and forced toward the coincident surface of the car andthereby ren- Idered tight, and said clamping devices adapted when thedoor is raised to unclamp said door so as to provide for the freemovement thereof.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PHILIP L. SHERIDAN. Witnesses:

W. J. DAVIES, D. T. DAVIES.

